


Silver Lining

by Canadiantardis



Series: Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [13]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Both Patton and Virgil are like mid-late teens, Gen, Human Trafficking, I don't write that kind of shit, Kidnapping, Little bit of comfort, Morality | Patton Sanders Angst, Nobody should assume Virgil is unsympathetic here, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis
Summary: Patton always believed he was a smart kid, despite how he wore his heart on his sleeve. He knew rights from wrongs, goods from bads, and those who were genuine and those who were malicious.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674190
Comments: 15
Kudos: 26





	Silver Lining

**Author's Note:**

> So an anon on tumblr asked if I could write some Patton Whump like, yesterday, and while I don't always take requests, this made me drop everything and spend the past several hours writing this because *yes, I would love to write some Patton Whump, let's hurt my boy*  
> And I decided to take out two birds with one stone and used an unused prompt from my BTHB card, which was "Locked in a trunk"
> 
> I think I have all the important tags tagged, but let me know if I missed something!!

Patton always believed he was a smart kid, despite how he wore his heart on his sleeve. He knew rights from wrongs, goods from bads, and those who were genuine and those who were malicious.

So when a kind-looking adult approached him on his way home from school, looking harried and distressed, asking him if he had seen a big dog with it’s leash on but no owner nearby, well, Patton only believed him.

“What kind of dog? I don’t think I’ve seen anything nearby, but I could help?” He suggested to the poor dog owner, who breathed a sigh of relief, smiling a bit.

“I don’t have my phone on me, it’s in my car, come on, I’ll show you,” the man said, and Patton easily agreed.

Which led to his current problem. When the man had led him off the street, to a side street that was not even populated except for a single non-descript black car, with dark-tinted windows, another much larger man came out of the car. Patton felt something akin to fear twist his guts in knots. Unlike the dog owner, he could tell this larger man was not genuine, but then he felt a hand grip his upper arm.

He tried to pull away, but the man held on with surprising strength, and the other man loomed over, and the next thing Patton realized, he was being shoved into a small space, his backpack no longer on him, and his hands bound with tight zip-ties, digging into his wrists.

It was dark as the door was shut above him, and Patton couldn’t seem to move for a couple seconds before his mind began racing too fast for him to even process anything other than  _ whatwhatwhatwhat- _

The sound of an engine turning on and the sensation of movement was all Patton needed to focus on the situation, kicking at the door as best he could in the cramped space.

“Let me out!” He shouted as loudly as he could, squeezing his eyes shut to try to stall the tight feeling around his chest. “Help!”

He could not stall the feeling for long, however. Like a rubber band or a too-small binder around his chest, he felt like he couldn’t breathe, every inhale shaky and much too short to stay alert.

The last thing he clearly remembered before he passed out in the trunk was wishing he’d be saved when he woke up.

XxX

Patton was not saved when he woke up, sometime later. He couldn’t be certain how much time had passed, but the engine had been turned off when he came to. It took a couple seconds to remember where he was and why, when the trunk door opened and light blinded him, causing him to cover his face with his bound wrists.

Hands grabbed him and yanked him out of the trunk, and Patton tried to see if he recognized anywhere but before he could get a good look at the area, a hand in his periphery reached out and pulled his glasses off his face before a blindfold was forced over his eyes. He struggled against the hands but the adults were much stronger than him.

He was quickly manhandled a short distance before he was pushed to an elevated floor, soon followed by the sound of a sliding car door slamming shut. He tried to yank the blindfold off in the time that the adults weren’t right beside him when a different pair of hands - smaller, that was all Patton could tell, and not as strong as the adults - stilled his own.

“Trust me, don’t take it off,” a young voice, maybe someone just a couple years older than Patton, spoke in a soft yet gruff - as if they were trying to sound older than they were - tone. “I’ll take it off you when it’s safe, okay?”

“Wh-who are you? What do you want with me?” Patton tried to keep his voice and winced when he heard the adults likely get settled in the front seats, the engine turning on and they were moving again.

“Call me V,” it almost sounded like they, V, wanted to say a fuller name, before they stopped themself. “And… I’m sorry, I can’t an-”

“Quiet back there,” the dog owner man snapped and Patton felt the other young person - he had to assume the other was as young as him, based on their voice and their hands - grip his arm like they flinched, and they went silent.

Throughout the unwanted trip, Patton struggled to compose himself until he felt the hand on his arm tap rhythmically, a steady beat that had him follow without being told. A steady pattern that he slowly got his breath back even if his chest felt tight with fear and sorrow.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been before the hand left his arm.

“I’m taking the blindfold off, okay? We’re close enough to our destination,” the young person said, and Patton could only give a single nod before the blindfold was removed, and Patton blinked blearily, squinting at the world without his glasses.

He was in an empty van, like the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo. There were only the front seats and the flooring of the back was carpeted with rough fabric. Sitting across and sort-of next to Patton was a young person. It took him several moments to notice distinctive features.

They had a thin face, almost feminine with distinct lips and a thin nose. Dark hair - Patton couldn’t tell if it was black or dark brown for certain - fell to the side of their face, mostly obscuring one eye, and what he could tell, they were a striking violet, which Patton could only tell because of how close he was to them. They wore makeup, sharp winged eyeliner and what could only be false lashes, and dark eyeshadow that only made their eyes all the more striking, making them almost glow in the dark. They had a lot of freckles like Patton, and wore fairly skin-tight clothes. Skinny jeans and a graphic tee, a band that he barely recognized, and an out of place collar around his neck.

_ “Hey,” _ they mouthed the word, giving a little wave that Patton hesitantly returned.  _ “I’m sorry.” _

_ “What’s happening?” _ Patton mouthed back, struggling not to actually speak.

V shook their head in answer, casting a glance to the front of the van, before they repeated the same apology over again.

Patton almost had the urge to scream, or cry, or both. He wasn’t sure and he wasn’t sure his brain knew which he wanted to either, outside of getting the hell out of the current situation.

V tapped Patton’s arm in the same way they had before, and now that he could see - blurrily, but better than nothing - he saw the concerned expression V gave, the frown on their lips - Patton idly wondered if they wore some light shade of lipstick or something, they looked too perfectly coloured to be natural - and how lightly they kept their hand on Patton’s arm. It was very kind of the other teen to do so, which prompted him to give V a grateful smile in return once he managed to calm down.

All too soon, the van stopped and the engine was cut. V froze, sliding their hand down to Patton’s wrists and gently stroked the back of a hand as the adults got out, the larger man opening the sliding door and barely waited for the teens to get themselves out on their own. V seemed used to the manhandling, finding their feet under them much faster than Patton, who was grateful again for the other teen when he almost fell but was kept up.

“Inside, now,” the larger man ordered and Patton was herded into a house, barely picking up the fact they were in some forested area, far, far away from home now.

It was a basic home, lightly furnished with a lot of wooden items, and a staircase leading up.

“Get this one upstairs and do not let it escape,” the dog owner man flicked his wrist towards the stairs without really even looking at Patton.”

“Sir, his wrists,” V spoke in stilted syllables, freezing solid when the dog owner man turned to look at them.

“What about them?” There was a threat in his voice, Patton could tell in the way V stood like a deer in the face of their demise.

“May I release him to change bonds, sir?” The careful picking of words had him wondering what place V had between the three. It wasn’t like they were an equal, yet they worked with these kidnappers. “He’ll lose the use of them if we don’t-”

“Fine, whatever, get out of my sight now,” the man snapped and just like that, V began to move again, lightly but urgently pulling Patton away from the adults, who headed elsewhere in the building.

He was pulled upstairs to a small bedroom that was barely furnished; only a single bed stood in the corner with a built-in closet that stood open and empty. V had him sit down before they scurried out of the room, returning in no time at all with a pair of scissors securely in their grasp.

“I’m going to cut the tie, okay?” They said, approaching Patton carefully. “Can you still feel your fingers?”

The question surprised him, and he tried curling his fingers, to find the movement much slower than usual. “Uh, kinda? Not really.”

“Okay, okay, then yeah, we need them off now. Here, hold out your wrists and try to move them as far apart as you can. I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Patton followed V’s instructions and within seconds the zip tie was cut and the worst case of pins-and-needles came over his hands as he shook feeling back into them.

“Okay, for now we can let you regain feeling back into your hands, but, I’m sorry, I’ll have to put some more restraints on you,” V looked genuinely disheartened, though after what happened with the dog owner man, Patton couldn’t be entirely sure if the teen was being genuine or not.

“Why? I can barely see as it is. They took my glasses when they put the blindfold on me.” He shook his head.

“Orders,” V simply answered in a clipped tone.

“Why do you listen to them?”

V looked away, rubbing their arm rather forcefully. They seemed to think very carefully before they sighed and sat on the bed next to Patton, pulling their legs to their chest. “I guess you should know as much as I do, at this point.”

They sighed, glancing up at Patton. “They traffick people. Mainly anyone who looks feminine enough to sell for a pretty penny. I… got bought a couple years by them to… act as bait, most of the time, since they only realized I was a guy after they bought me.” V laughed hollowly, and there was a deadness in his eyes that sent a terrified chill down Patton’s spine with every word that came out of V’s mouth.

“Wh-what’s going to happen to me?” Patton struggled to keep his voice level, even as it trembled.

“I… I don’t really know. They sell off the people they find within a week of kidnapping them. They might be talking shop downstairs now,” He shrugged, wrapping his arms more securely around his legs and he looked so small in that moment, Patton wasn’t sure who he should feel more sorry for, himself or the other teen. “I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry, dude.”

“It’s not like  _ you _ kidnapped me, V,” Patton shook his head slightly.

“Yeah, but I can’t help you. The last time I tried to help someone…” V shut his eyes slowly and grimaced. “I’m as bad as those two.”

Patton wasn’t sure how much he believed that, at the sight of the other teen currently, but he always couldn’t disprove it because he didn’t know V at all.

The two lapsed into silence, listening to the sounds of the house groaning and settling as the sun dipped low into the horizon. It was very late now, Patton was sure by now his moms would have realized he never got back home, and he wondered where his backpack was. He had put his phone there after the final bell released him from school.

“Do you know if they have my bag?” He asked quietly, startling the other teen a bit.

“Huh? Oh, uh, not likely. They didn’t have it when they came to the van. Not that I saw, anyway. They might have left it in the other car or the scene,” V shook his head. “They don’t let anyone keep anything from their old life. Says you’ll never need anything from that life anymore…”

“Oh…” Patton sighed and found himself mirroring V’s form, wrapping his arms around his legs so his knees were to his chest.

The two sat in silence. Patton normally despised the quiet moments, but he had nothing else to say. He just wanted to go back home, but he had no idea where they were, how far away home way, or even which direction to run if he could find a way away from the building. There was a small window in the room that he could see out of, yet all he could actually see were trees, a thick forest by the looks of it.

V uncurled his body and sat up properly, glancing at the shut door. “They’ll be up to check on us soon. I, I need to, uh…” He trailed off as he looked to Patton. “Which one is your dominant hand?”

Patton frowned, slowly uncurling himself from his own ball, before he lifted his left hand. V nodded and turned to the headboard of the bed, dragging up handcuffs with one cuff locked around the bottom frame of the bed. Patton immediately pulled his hand away as V turned to look at him again.

“If I don’t do this, they’ll do it and they’ll put it too tight around your wrist again and won’t let me help. C’mon, dude,” V took Patton’s wrist gently and pulled him to the edge of the bed, cuffing him to the bed with the cuff loose enough to not feel like he’d lose sensation of his hand again, but tight enough he’d never be able to pull it off.

Not even a full minute later, as Patton was adjusting to sitting bent over on the bed to not twist his arm uncomfortably, the two teens heard footfalls approaching the door. They had no time before the door was opened without announcement and the fear in his guts returned at the sight of the two men entering the room.

“Good,” the dog owner man had his eyes on the handcuffs, smiling cruelly. “We’ll be going to the buyers’ first thing in the morning. Make sure the kid’s presentable, brat.” The order was directed at V.

V nodded carefully, his hair falling over both eyes but he didn’t brush it out of the way as he muttered an affirmative.

“Rest up,” the larger man said, and just like that, they left, closing the door and Patton’s heart sank as he heard a lock click in place.

V was quiet for a tad longer before he slouched, breathing out a heavy sigh. “Okay, we should… probably listen to them. They won’t care if we slept or not. Uh, I’ll, I’ll take the floor.”

“What, why?” Patton frowned at the teen, tilting his head to get a good look at him.

“Wh-You are not taking the floor, your arm will go numb,” V shook his head, which only caused the frown to grow on Patton’s face.

“Why can’t we share?” He asked.

V looked at him like he grew another head, then down at the small bed to which Patton was cuffed to. “We, it’s… It’s too small, we won’t have enough room.”

“So?” Patton questioned, which apparently stumped the other teen. “I don’t mind. I’ve had to sleep in a small bed with both my younger brothers for like half a year, and one of them liked to kick everyone off in his sleep.” The memory flashed before his eyes for just a moment, of the sensation of falling as he barely woke up, a bruise on his thigh from where his brother kicked him, and he barely suppressed the smile.

“If… If you’re sure, dude,” V sounded hesitant, sitting back on the bed.

“I am. And my name’s Patton, by the way,” Patton said, awkwardly finding a somewhat comfortable way to lay down with his cuffed hand hanging over the edge of the bed.

“Patton?” V sounded the name out, and when he turned to look at the other teen, Patton couldn’t help but airily chuckle at how his nose crinkled. “Weird name, dude, but okay.”

“Gee, thanks, V,” Patton chuckled a little louder, which caused V to snicker in return, a hand going to cover his mouth the moment the sound came out.

“Don’t tell the adults your name. They won’t let you keep it,” he said after a moment.

“What, like the fae in fairytales?” Patton frowned.

“Not… really. They won’t care what you call yourself, they’ll give you another name. Why do you think I only told you the first letter of my name?” V responded, settling next to Patton, trying to give the two of them as much space as he could on the very small bed.

“I… so what is your full name? You haven’t forgotten, have you?” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to be lighthearted or somber, not that it mattered to the other teen.

The teen seemed to war with something inwardly, with the way his eyes shut tightly and he clenched his teeth, before he rushed out several words in a whisper. “MynameisVirgil.”

“Oh,” Patton shifted in place to get a better look at the other teen. “It’s… Hi, Virgil.” He almost said ‘it was nice to meet you’ but that felt like poisonous lies. It may have been a silver lining in the storm clouds around Patton right now, but the situation of their meeting was far from pleasant, and it would be rude to lie to the only person in the past several hours who had been kind to him, who was in the same position as he was.

“Yeah, I guess,” Virgil muttered and turned over, his back to Patton. “Get some rest, Patton. You’ll need it, trust me.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [ LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> Feedback
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> This author replies to comments.


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